Posts with tag john edwards

In the cutthroat world of national politics, a candidate's appreciation for designer styles can sometime hurt their image as much as it can help. A year ago, pundits had a field day roasting John Edwards over his $400 haircut. Now, it looks like the elitist shoe is on the other foot -- and the blogosphere is buzzing over a pair of Ferragamo loafers that John McCain has been spotted wearing on the campaign trail.

The loafers in question retail for about $520 at Nieman Marcus -- and really, they're pretty decent-looking. While some are trying to make the point that McCain's out of touch with regular Americans, we doubt anyone's going to penalize him for his attempt at looking fashionable. Come on, when it comes to looks, he's going to need all the help he can get.

We argue that it's not his choice of footwear that makes McCain out of touch with middle-class Americans -- if anything, it's the fact that he's really freakin' old and fabulously wealthy. Duh.

[via Jossip]

Normally politics and fashion don't exactly go hand in hand. As far as I can tell, most candidates try and look as boring as possible -- probably so they seem respectable enough to get elected. That said, this year's Democratic presidential hopefuls are a stylish bunch -- Barack Obama appeared on the cover of Men's Vogue, and John Edwards is eerily obsessed with his hair.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has stayed away from fashion magazines -- most notably backing out of a photo shoot with Vogue last fall. She was supposed to adorn the cover of the February issue, but opted against it at the last minute because she didn't want to "appear too feminine."

Anna Wintour, the highly-regarded fashion industry hard ass in charge of the magazine, isn't taking the snub lying down. In this month's editor's letter, she writes: "This is America, not Saudi Arabia. It's also 2008: Margaret Thatcher may have looked terrific in a blue power suit, but that was 20 years ago. I do think Americans have moved on from the power suit mentality..."

Maybe. Or maybe Anna is just blowing off steam. Somehow I suspect Mrs. Clinton's political analysts know more about campaign strategy than the editor of a fashion magazine. But what do you think? Would you vote for a woman who appeared on the cover of Vogue?

Seeing as this is a style blog, and public officials aren't exactly known for their fashion flair, there's generally no reason for us to cover politics. However, recently it seems there's been a concerted effort amongst high-profile politicians to look cool, George Bush's recent crocs fiasco and John Edwards' hair combing incident notwithstanding.

Hillary Clinton, for instance, in an attempt to reach out to the young and hip, recently held a contest, asking followers to choose her campaign song. Both the contest itself, and her choice to announce the winner in a Soprano's video spoof, got her a lot of attention from the young and hip.

Now Barack Obama -- Clinton's main competition in the Democratic party -- has had his campaign materials featured on a design blog. NOTCOT, a site normally dedicated to fashion-forward clothing and novel new gadgets, was impressed with the candidate's stylish t-shirts, buttons and stickers -- and for good reason. Normally candidates opt for a simple red, white and blue motif with their cheesy slogan italicized at the bottom -- but it looks like someone in Obama's camp actually put some thought into the visual aesthetic of his campaign.

I'm not saying that he's the best guy for the job necessarily, but with marketing material like this, it's no wonder the ladies love Barack Obama.

I was very much a "dude" growing up, so the thought of spending more than $10 for a haircut seemed ridiculous. What could a salon do that my barber couldn't? By the time I got old enough to realize that I didn't have to get the exact same cut over, and over, and over again, I was too broke to afford a hair salon, so cut it myself.

Now, finally, I'm at the point where I can appreciate what a well-trained stylist can do to tame my crazy coiffure -- for $60 or less.

John Edwards, on the other hand -- even though he has the most normal haircut on the planet -- finds it necessary to spend over $400 for a celebrity stylist to give him that "official look." What makes it even funnier, is that the presidential hopeful not only employed the services of Joseph Torrenueva, of Beverly Hills, but he paid for those services out of his campaign fund -- as if it was a legitimate business expense.

To be fair, part of the high cost is due to the fact that Torrenueva comes to whatever location is convenient for Edwards rather than have the politician make an appearance in the salon.

On the other hand, it's four hundred.dollars. I'm sure this guy is an amazing stylist -- and hey, if you've got it, spend it -- but doesn't this seem a little over the top for your basic suburban dad cut?

PS: for a funny video of John Edwards combing his hair to excess, go here.